Westbrook and Kevin Durant each scored 29 points, and Oklahoma City recovered after squandering its big lead to beat Houston 105-102 on Wednesday night and take a 2-0 series lead.

"It's fun. During this time of the year, as a team we've got one goal and we can't let nobody get in the way," Westbrook said. "That's how I feel and that's how I want my team to respond as well."

Durant hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:28 to play after the Rockets had turned a 15-point deficit into a four-point lead, and the Thunder didn't relinquish the lead. Durant missed a free throw with 1 second left, but Houston was out of timeouts and Carlos Delfino couldn't connect on a desperation shot at the final buzzer.

"It's frustrating and it hurts really bad right now," said Chandler Parsons, who scored 17 points for Houston. "But you've got to take some positives out of it. It's a long series."

Game 3 is Saturday night in Houston.

The Thunder's big lead melted away with nine straight empty possessions as the Rockets mixed in a zone defense. James Harden spearheaded a 21-2 Houston comeback by getting into the lane to create his own opportunities, and he also kicked the ball out to set up two 3-pointers by Delfino. His second 3, from the right wing, provided a 95-91 lead with 3:27 to go.

But the Rockets couldn't keep it up.

Oklahoma City came back to tie it before Harden knifed to the basket for a layup to give Houston its last lead at 97-95 with 2:42 to play. Durant answered right away with a deep 3 from the left wing at the opposite end, and the Thunder came up with back-to-back stops before Thabo Sefolosha's 3 provided a little breathing room at 101-97.

Winning Without Boards

The Thunder took a 2-0 series lead over the Rockets despite their struggles on the glass. Here's a look at the Thunder's worst rebounding differential in a playoff win over the last 25 seasons.

Year

Differential

Opponent

2013

-17<<

Rockets

1996

-15

Kings

1997

-14

Rockets

1997

-9

Rockets

<< Outrebounded 57-40 in Game 2

Serge Ibaka added a long jumper to make it 103-98 after Durant was forced to give up the ball. Durant and Kevin Martin, both in the top 5 in the league in free-throw percentage, both went 1 for 2 at the foul line in the final 12 seconds to give the Rockets one last chance.

"We all stuck together," Westbrook said. "They made a run when we weren't able to make shots, but I thought everybody had a big role toward the end of the game and we came up with the win."

Harden ended up with 36 points and 11 rebounds, and Beverley had 16 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for Houston. The Rockets made up for a 40 percent shooting mark with a 57-40 advantage on the boards and a 50-30 scoring edge in the paint, engineering a massive turnaround after getting blown out 120-91 in Game 1.

And they did it without starting point guard Jeremy Lin, who didn't play in the second half because of a muscle contusion in his chest.

"Our team is a young team and we're not a perfect team by any stretch of the imagination, but they'll fight," coach Kevin McHale said. "They're a bunch of scrappers. They'll go out and fight you for it. So, I knew our team would play well today. That's who they are."

Beverley moved into the starting lineup as Houston went with a three-guard unit, and it didn't take long for the rookie to get under Westbrook's thin skin. Beverley lunged for a steal as Westbrook stopped to call a timeout after Houston took a 42-41 lead midway through the second quarter, with his hip slamming into Westbrook's right knee.

Westbrook smashed his right hand onto the scorer's table in anger and hobbled back to the huddle, but was able to stay in the game. He stripped Beverley for a runout layup two possessions later, but the Thunder still couldn't shake free.

Later in the half, Beverley knocked Westbrook down on a foul and then reached out to help him up. Westbrook slapped his hand away.

"It's part of basketball, playoff basketball. Everyone wants to go out there and win," Beverley said. "Anyone who knows me, knows my character, that I'm not going to back down from anyone, Russell Westbrook or anybody else."

Another rookie, Greg Smith, drew a technical foul when he jawed at Ibaka after dunking on the NBA's top shot-blocker and Houston was still within 57-55 at halftime.

Just after Harden's driving throwdown put Houston ahead 63-61, Oklahoma City raged back with a string of 13 straight points with Ibaka keying the run. He swatted Omer Asik's dunk attempt, hit two free throws and grabbed an offensive rebound that set up Westbrook's three-point play. The Thunder started the fourth quarter with an 11-2 to run to push their lead to 89-74 after Martin's 3-pointer with 9:22 to go.

McHale called time out, and the Rockets immediately responded with Beverley's 3-pointer off a set play -- and that was only the beginning of the comeback.

"We were down 15, we could have just given up the game and said, `Let's go to Game 3,' but we fought back and took the lead," Harden said. "So, we definitely have some confidence going into Game 3 and going back home."

Game notes

Beverley had not started any games during his rookie season, moving into the rotation midway through the season and playing 41 games. ... After finishing second to Tyson Chandler last year's voting for NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Ibaka was third this year behind Marc Gasol and LeBron James. Ibaka has led the NBA in total blocks the past three seasons. "He led the league three years in blocks. I guess that don't mean nothing nowadays," frontcourt partner Kendrick Perkins said. "At the end of the day, I think he deserves it. He should have won the thing. But it's over with, so we're just going to move on."

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

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MVP: Kevin Durant. After coming out on fire in the first quarter, Durant was quiet for much of the fourth quarter ... until his team really needed him. With the lead erased, on consecutive plays, he nailed a 3 and kicked out to Thabo Sefolosha for an open 3. Ballgame.

LVP: Carlos Delfino. He hit a big 3 late, but went 3-for-10 overall from 3. With the Rockets needing to go small, they needed much more from Delfino.

X factor: Patrick Beverley. Kevin McHale gave Beverley the nod at starting point guard, going small, and the sixth man responded with 16 points, 12 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block, even getting under Russell Westbrook's skin at points. Beverley gave his team a chance.

The Thunder outscored the Rockets 21-10 in transition in Game 2 and are averaging 22.5 transition points per game in the series. Houston is shooting 50.0 percent in transition in the first two games and made 2 of its 10 transition field goals in Game 2.

OKC ON THE RUN

James Harden has made 2-of-18 (11.1 percent) shots at least 15 feet from the basket in the series. During the regular season against the Thunder, Harden made 13-of-24 shot attempts from at least 15 feet, including 11-of-20 on 3-pointers.

James Harden scored 27 points on drives to the basket Wednesday, and his teammates scored 8 points on 3-of-5 shooting when he kicked it out on his drives. In Game 1 of the series, Harden drove 11 times and the Rockets scored just 8 points on those drives.

The Thunder scored 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting in clutch time (last 5 minutes, score within 5 points), with scoring from 5 different Thunder players. During the regular season, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combined to score 77.6 percent of Oklahoma City's points in clutch time. But on Wednesday, it was jumpers from Thabo Sefolosha and Serge Ibaka that put the game away.